We were warned of an oncoming snowstorm. Collingwood, our destination, is often dumped by winter weather rages coming from Georgian Bay. It is what makes this town a popular ski resort area. By our good fortune only a few white flakes had left less than a powdery look over the landscape.
The forecast tells us it will be 27º Celsius, making it a jump from the comfortable 20º of the past few days. The morning at 5:15 AM is just the perfect hour or two for that walk in a converted park from an old train line. You can still see the tracks exposed over the manicured grass. It’s spring, so the fragrances of the tilo tree are strong and invigorating. Robins, parrots, and hawks or falcons soar by. I am a sucker for the jacaranda tree bearing purple flowers.
The Bhagavatam class
In Argentina marks the National Sovereignty Days, and therefore, the day off is for the public which is enjoying a holiday. People go to the countryside and city parks to bond with family and friends.
For us devotees who just pulled off a grand fiesta, Ratha Yatra, it became a day of rest. But with guests staying over from other Argentinian cities outside of Buenos Aires, it was the temple program as usual starting at 4:30 AM, then a hike to the nearby park to include a meaningful sit down
I dined with some awfully nice people at the Ratha Yatra site. There was a purple-clad Anglican minister who had been to Manitoba and Saskatchewan in Canada describing them as “beautiful.” The Indian Ambassador indulged in the prasadam that was churned out of Govinda’s Restaurant in Tigre. Inderveer Kaur enjoyed the meal. She is the only female leader of the Sikh faith in not only Argentina, but the whole of South America. The President of Crownval partook in the paneer subji (curd curry).
There is a lot of dust in the air from the floor sanding, and double the collective amount from some kind of stripping of the old stairway. Three layers of hard paint is a hard job which is actually a sign of devotion. You can say that there is a lot of devotion in the air – progressive devotion. Improvements are being made on our building – the temple/ashram. And there is still so much work needing to be done.
I wisht the toxins caked on my heart could be easily removed. No machine or t
Our very own Bhakta Om, resident of our temple ashram, delivered his first class today from the book, Bhagavatam, and the topic was Yasoda investigating the accusation that her young son, Krishna, had eaten dirt. To confirm, Krishna’s stance that this was untrue, she saw to settling the matter simply by asking Him to open His mouth and she could see firsthand for herself whether it was false or not. He opened His mouth, and she saw not only earth, but the Earth, the whole universe; she saw de
I arrived safely in Montreal for our AGM Annual General Meeting. I came upon the following letter by our guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada written August 24th, 1968, when he was living in Montreal, addressed to the Right Honourable Michener, Governor General of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
“ISKCON (The international Society of Krishna Consciousness) is a non-lucrative organization, whose purpose is to promote the well-being of human society, and our members include people from Christian,
It was ten years ago that I began my US walk starting from Boston in New England. By the time I reached Middle Atlantic in Pennsylvania, it was Halloween time. Homeowners had really spruced up their properties with all kinds of ghoulish décor. I recall walking by a countryside home where the place was elaborately done up. A man from the UK travelling for business stopped to see the spectacle and remarked, “Boy, here everyone really gets into it,” meaning in Europe the event is rather toned
Members of the VHP had invited us to Queen’s Park, the Legislative Assembly Building for the Province of Ontario to a Diwali function. At 8 am, a dozen of us devotees from the temple ashram turned up, including myself, along with delegates, ministers of various portfolios with the government. People with those statuses and services spoke briefly about the importance of Diwali, the festival of lights, carrying the theme of goodness over evil. Certificates were given to those who achieved pro
I was told by a number of folks, the ones we met at Radhadesh, Den Haag, and Naalwijk, that we were very lucky in regards to the weather during our trekking in Holland. “You had practically no rain – unusual for this time of year.”
I consider myself blessed on many counts. Our first nine hours were spent at Radhadesh’s castle. The class I delivered was on the topic of renunciation. I told the listeners of how my dad, while I was in the tub and he was shaving in the washroom, out of nowhere
It is a day of rest, perhaps deserved. Yes, we have been going strong over the last eight days at twenty kilometres. A pause is always good. Downtime. A handful of us on the “Walk for Devotion” project are taking it easy in this tiny town, Durbuy, and specifically at beautifully showcased Radhadesh. It is an oasis of a tastefully done tourist trap and includes a Radha Krishna temple, restaurant, bakery, boutique, art museum, a cow shelter, a playground, an extensive walking trail, land to
How does a walking marathoner get his ‘steps’ in when flying distances that don’t allow? Well, here’s how I achieved some numbers after a six-hour flight. The Schipold in Amsterdam where I landed in the late morning, covers about 4,500 football fields, or 27.87 square kilometres, and I traversed a small portion of that. With Air Canada losing my check-in baggage, I was forced to walk from carousel 19 at arrivals to the oversize outlet or odd-size to carousel 16 and back in a triangle again a
Things are back to normal, back in regular gear. Children are back at school, and in general, vacation is over with adults also in full tilt situated at their workplace.
Construction goes on in various locations of the city like most contemporary urban areas of the world. Roads need repair. New edifices need to rise up to accommodate the growing population.
And what about Chinatown? It is always busy, no sign of death there. With such an industrious community, there will always be a
Food bloggers Alfonso and Jessica recently paid an unexpected visit to the Radha Kalachandji Temple in Dallas to explore its history, art, and spiritual significance. They also enjoyed a delicious vegetarian meal at Kalachani’s Palace, the city’s oldest vegetarian eatery.
In a moment of serendipity, the couple met ISKCON devotee Nityananda Chandra Dasa, who gave them a spontaneous tour of the temple, explaining the Deities, Srila Prabhupada’s journey to the West, and the philosophy of Krishna
Our visiting monk from Florida, Brhat Mrdanga, showed me the notes he took from my class involving the theme of shifting gears in life, or altering one’s career and what people often call paradigm shifting. The focus in the class was based on a Canto Nine avatar, Parasurama, who was born a brahmin (priest), but took on the disposition of a ksatriya (warrior). He felt he did the needful due to oppressive force from unruly kings. In other words, he demonstrated how, in certain circumstances,
IT'S IMPORTANT TO RESPECT AND HONOUR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES ON CANADA DAY IN THE SPIRIT OF RECONCILIATION.
The drive to the capital city, Ottawa, population 1,000,000, is five hours, and in the early section of this national holiday, Canada’s birthday, was quiet and road friendly. No roads are necessarily friendly for a pedestrian. There’s always some kind of road rage. In general, it is the happiest day of the year for Canucks (an affectionate term for ‘Canadians’). I was able to fit in 8,000 p
Srimal and I were climbing up the stairs by the beach at Lake Erie to return to his vehicle when we met halfway two men who were tourists. They looked like they were from the middle east.
“Good morning! How are you?” I asked. It was they who were curious and who asked where we are from.
“I’m from Canada, and he (Srimala) is from here. How about you?”
They replied spontaneously, “Jordan.”
“That’s nice.” In a subtle way they indicated that the dialogue was over, as brief as it was, a
People in our community aren’t always punctual. The standard joke is, “We follow IST,” translated as Indian Standard Time or ISKCON Standard Time. Seriously, I don’t laugh at it anymore. Shobam is in his twenties, and he joined our walking team which agreed to meet at 8 AM for the start of the trek. When the topic came up about the chronic lateness, I said to Shobam, “Can your generation change that?”
“I’m going to try,” he said.
The Ledges Trails at Cuyahoga National Park is just idea
The soft touches to the day, after a rather bland phase at Newark Airport, was a visit to Shyama Kund’s childhood home in Cleveland. Also, I might add that a great trek with Srimala down a trail made the afternoon what it was – fine and fun. Both Srimala and I were fascinated to hear from Shyama Kund about his work at Nasa in Florida. Who wouldn’t be intrigued with the space mission, the planets, the moon, and Mars, and whatever achievements may have come through, if any? Shyama reminded us
I’m a firm believer that everyone should take a break from the man-made world, even if just for a few minutes every day. For the sake of sanity, the connection is essential. I recall from my visit to Sparta last year, at this time there is a nearby body of water, Lake Sparta. A walk around it is 1.12 kilometres. Notable are the natural elements. No wonder people have made their homes here. Luckily for walkers like me, no homes are built on the lake’s edge, and plentiful gaps of nature bet
